When she needed time apart from her four younger and extremely rambunctious brothers and sisters, she would go downstairs to the sun porch and spend hours floating above a roiling sea of shag carpet. Being neither here nor there nor up nor down, it was the perfect place to dream about her future.

(Michigan, August 2012. A time capsule since 1974.)

Because she was little, she didn't put any limitations on her dreams. And so she let herself dream bigbigbig. And she dreamed that one day she would write a book of her very own.

Lots of time passed.

She grew up, went to college and moved a lot of different places.

And her dream was still there, but it had a lot to compete with.

She was an advertising copywriter in New York and then LA and then New York again.

And her dream was still there, but it was on a back burner.

She got married and had a baby.

And her dream was still there, but it was on a very low low flame.

And then she started a blog.

And her readers brought her dream back to life.

* * *

This past March I wrote a book proposal.

For a design book about how our favorite novels (by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Evelyn Waugh and many, many more) can help us live a more stylish and meaningful life.

I showed it to a friend who showed it to a friend who showed it to a literary agent (the über-wonderful Carrie Kania of Conville and Walsh) who was impassioned about it from the very get-go and took me on.

So very exciting! I love that you were so influenced by Jane Eyre as well. My mother read it to me when I was around 7 or 8, and the entire reason I took French through high school was so that I could read all that she couldn't translate. Oh how I love that book!

Congratulations!! I love your blog and never comment. For this I apologize. But I was so thrilled to read your good news that I felt it was time. This is a book only you could write and I can't wait to read it!!! I also have to thank you for the rest of the post. As a mother of a small child who has traded a fulfilling creative career for part-time freelance work, my dreams are currently on "low flame." Some days the flame feels a lot lower than others :) Its inspiring to know that this stage is not forever, but perhaps just a season in our lives.

Congratulations! That is wonderful. It's always nice to hear about dreams that don't die and because you didn't give up on it, it is coming to full fruition. Yeah! I have been reading your blog for a couple years now quietly in the google reader. Had to pop on over and congratulate you.

Lisa,I can just see Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville West raising a glass to you, along with all the other ghosts of Bloomsbury! And so am I! It's been a magic carpet ride with you these past few years, through London and Morocco and all the other the hidden paradises you've shown us... and now your book! Congratulations! SO thrilled for you,xx Lily

WoW!!I've just started blogging again after a two-year hiatus and this is one of the first blogs by which I was inspired, what feels like many years ago now. Hearty congratulations; your writing is delicious and you always had something fresh and captivating to say or show. I can only imagine your excitement and how prod everyone must be of you. Great and lovely newsELS xx

Congratulations, Lisa. Your words inspire the dormant dreamers in the quiet corners to go out into the wide world. Wonderful news - can't wait to see your thoughts on the influence of books on our lives writ large and in hard cover.

What a GREAT day!! You must have done a little dance of glee when you found out! Just thinking of your delightful news makes me take in an inordinate amount of oxygen, and causes me to grin! So, so wonderful!! Dreams are our misty goals, and when they come to life it is JOY!!

I love your blog and read it faithfully. I seldom comment, only because of time constraints (I work and have a family, it's nuts). This is FABULOUS news. I find your blog posts where you connect literature and design to have been fascinating, as I too am a book addict who loves design. You are a kindred spirit! I cannot wait to see your book, it will be so unique and wonderful! Enjoy the project, it will be so terrific for you!

I'm reading this in the middle of the night, because I can't sleep and I'm so, so pleased for you! Even writing my little blog gives me so much pleasure but to be writing a book is just brilliant. Congratulations!

Congratulation from France !!! writing a book is a huge work, be prepared and never lose your joy in creating a piece of dream com true.... With a book you can change somone's life, you leave a trace, you create happiness for the eyes and for the mind. It's one of the greatest thing you can do in your life ! enjoy the process !

Congratulations Lisa. I know it will be a fabulous and inspirational book. I'm going to take my sleeping bag and start to queue outside the local bookshop! I want to be the first to get hold of your copy!! Do tell us more! I'm so excited for you.

Congratulations, Lisa! What wonderful news. Sounds like a book I'd want to read (LOL). So great that you will have a much bigger stage to showcase your talents. I'm sure I will enjoy reading it as much as I do your blog. It also makes me think that I, too, one day can return to a creative life. M.

Congrats!!! All the best on your journey into book publishing. So many of the things you say and do have inspired me and have woken my flame for being crative. Cannot wait to read and devour your book.

This brings tears to my eyes as I've been following your blog an looking up to you for so long now. I cannot fully express how happy I am for you. You continue to inspire me and who I want to be. Thank you and congratulations!

Congratulations, Lisa! So excited for you and can't wait to read your book. Hopefully, your editor will spring for a fabulous book tour which will include New York and the girls at Diane James Home can treat you to dinner! XO, Cynthia

Congratulations Lisa ! I love how you've held on to your dream and finally it has come true ! Waiting for the right time and the right opportunity. Did you think your blog would lead you here ? Or did it all unfold before you over time ?

i love love love your blog...i always save it for when i have a wee bit of time to devote to it.....congrats on your dream coming true..its a beautiful thing to dream BIG....brava bella!...cynthia dale...(stratford ontario)

Hate to be pretentious...but I could have told you when I first read ABL, that a book is in the wings. OH, Lisa....how utterly delightful to see a childhood dream come true. Please allow me to read it first. :)

This is wonderful news. My sincere congratulations. This will not, though, be the end of your dark nights. But you are a seeker, and you know that. Here is what Agent X says on "Men with Pens" :

if you’re taking ideas out of your head and turning them into words – then you’re sure as hell brave. Don’t forget that. Never let anyone convince you that what you do is easy or not a real job or even safe

http://menwithpens.ca/writing-bravery/

I wish you the full experience that publishing is - triumph, doubt, frustration and joy - the true Bloomsbury Life.

So,so happy for you! I am always inspired by your blog, but today, even more so, work, children, life in general sometines make us forget our dreams but we must not do that because who knows... they may come true!!!Oh, and in a year and a half, can I please order a signed copy of your book? ;-)

That's wonderful and fantastic news. Maybe one day my dreams will come true too. A couple of weeks ago I was at Sudeley Castle, home of Katherine Parr...number 6. I so feel what you feel thru books and, especially when I'm in England. Now am back in Vancouver for a couple of months missing England very much.

As a prelude to your book, I have been reading all of these lovely comments... Many of us have never had the pleasure to shake your hand but somehow you've reached through the virtual ether and kindled a sort of camaraderie through your words, turning the universal into the personal. And because of that, I'd say you already are a successful author! Bravo! xx Lily

Oh, my! I am on pins and needles as to who the authors included will be! I thrilled for you! I just cannot use too many exclamation points!!!!!

You have a way of making everyone, even those who have not met you in person (and I have had the pleasure!) feel like a best friend. So I expect the book will give everyone the warm fuzzy's just like you are able to do.

Lisa, this is beyond thrilling...I'm so happy for you!The wonderful and very exciting reality of your dream coming true is also a wonderful (and yes, very exciting) dream come true for all of us as well...the anticipation is going to rival the wait for the next installment of Downton Abbey!!Many, many congratulations, and happy writing...enjoy the ride!xoxo J~

That is super-fantastic news! Congratulations! I've been following your blog for about two years now, and just love your taste in literature and your appreciation of the "domestic arts". I can hardly wait to delve into an entire book that marries these loves together!

this is simply wonderful news! I've followed and admired your blog ever since I stumbled upon it via a mention on Stuck in a Book a loooong time ago. I am not one of the regular commenters (I am inexplicably shy that way), but I have enjoyed all of your posts and admired your knowledge, verve, style and generosity in sharing all of it with us. I'm sure your book will be simply wonderful and I'm looking forward to holding it into my hands! It's wonderful to read how your dream came to life, and it brings me hope to think that big dreams like this can come to life. WELL DONE! Love, Miriana

Lisa, I'm looking forward to reading that book. And in the meantime and for even more inspiration for you I beg you to read "Mrs. Woolf and The Servants''by Alison Light; about VW's housemaids. All sorts of lovely tidbits re how houses looked.Thanks for your words, your ideas.

A truly motivational and life changing book "ONE BOOK FOR LIFE SUCCESS" .The writer has described in Plain English with lot of examples which is easy to understand...For MorePlease watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biORjS8ngv0